River Pond Quilt Along
Welcome!
I’m so excited to have you join me in the River Pond Quilt Along! I’m looking forward to quilting with you over the next 3 1/2 months. And I can’t wait to get to know you better and see the beautiful quilts that you make. Here’s to a great creative beginning to 2020!
Schedule
Here’s the schedule for the entirety of the QAL. I’ll update with links as posts are added, so you can always check back to this post so you don’t miss anything.
As you can see it’s pretty laid back, especially how quickly the quilt actually comes together. But this will leave room for life to happen and not get behind, or for extra time to get caught up if you do. My word for 2020 is CONSISTENCY, and my intention is to allow for a little bit of work over time to create a beautiful finished quilt. (emphasis on finished!)
Jan 6th - River Pond QAL Begins: Intro & Schedule
Jan 8th - Plan & Color, Part 1
Jan 9th - Plan & Color, Part 2
Jan 13th - Pick Fabrics
Jan 15th - Adjusting Fabric Requirements
Jan 20th - Cut Fabric
Jan 27th - Block A
Jan 29th - Block B
Feb 3rd - Block C
Feb 5th - Blocks D
Feb 10th - Block E + F
Feb 19th - Flying Geese
Feb 28th - Assemble Geese
Mar 2nd - Assemble Side Strips
Mar 9th - Assemble Center
Mar 19th - Finish Top
Mar 26th - Baste Quilt
Adjusting schedule for Pandemic
Apr 14th - Quilting Ideas
Apr 28th - Quilting
May 1st - Binding
May 4th - Finish & Label
May 6th - Spotlight & Finishes
May 15th - River Pond QAL Ends!
Please join the From Blank Pages Community group on Facebook as I’ll be sharing new blog posts, posting prompts, and it’s a great place to share your progress and get feedback.
You can also follow me on Instagram (@fromblankpages) and share your posts with #fbpRiverPond! That’s a great place to share photos and see what everyone is doing.
Do you have the pattern?
First, do you have the pattern???
You do need to purchase your own pattern for the QAL. Sharing is not cool… and most pattern designers agree. It’s also dishonest and copyright infringement – although not all people see it that way – so I’m going to mention this really quickly. Please don’t share patterns with your friends and family. Your support in purchasing your own copy of each pattern means the world to not just me and my family, but all of the designers and creatives out there! If everyone shared and no one bought, I’d be out of a job. If you’re into sharing patterns, there are lots of free QAL’s that you can join, and I will not be offended if you join those instead, I would actually prefer it (Then we’re all happy!). I would be offended if you were to share my patterns. Thanks for understanding! Love ya!
You can purchase River Pond HERE.
Important Note:
I want you to have the best version of the pattern, so I’m going to make this really easy! If you purchased the pattern earlier, be sure to download the most recent update of the pattern. If you don’t have an account on this website, do the following:
1. Create an account
2. Use the Contact Me form to let me know: a) where you purchased the pattern (Etsy, Craftsy, prior website), b) your name email address you used, c) if you have an order number and date, even better!
3. If you purchased the pattern through Stashbuilder Box, send me a picture of you with the pattern as well, so I know you really have it.
4. If you purchased a printed/paper version of the pattern, please send a picture with you and the pattern (good selfie practice!) :D, or you can send me the order information as in Step 2. I should have record of all of that.
5. I will add the pattern to your account and you will have forever access to the pattern and any updates.
If you really don’t want to get the new version of the pattern, you can view my update page for any corrections. The old and new version are different in size and the fabric cutting measurements, as well as the overall layout of the pattern, but the old pattern still works.
You can also purchase the Past Purchase Access to get all of your past orders updated to your account so you have all of your patterns in one place. (If you purchased this in the past and your downloads are not there, let me know. I had to change the way I add your patterns to your account and I’m still working through updating everyone’s orders.)
Homework
You may already have an idea of the colors and fabrics you want to use, or you might be coming into this with absolutely no idea what to do.
Either way, before you start cutting fabric, let’s discuss our plans first. It’s fun to make quilts that we like, but it’s even better when we make quilts we LOVE! And a little bit of forethought and planning can go a long way in how the finished quilt comes out.
I’ll discuss more about color and design and planning your quilt on Wednesday. But I DO have some homework for you to do before then. It won’t take long (or could take hours due to the time black-hole affect of Pinterest, lol, so be careful).
- Create a Pinterest Board
- Create a new Pinterest board for “Inspirational Quilts”
- Find a lot of quilts that you love
- Search Pinterest for lots of quilts that you love and add them to your Inspiration board.
- Analyze & Take Notes
- As you look at the quilts, ask yourself why you like these specific quilts? What elements are you drawn to?
- Take notes about themes and similarities between the quilts you added to your boards.
- What are the colors that are used – the dominate colors as well as the neutrals and supportive colors (even the ugly colors that might also be used! They help the beautiful colors shine!! Trust me!) Are there lots of colors or only a couple? If there are a lot, how many different shades and hues of each color are used. What about value contrast – is there a lot of contrast between lights and darks, or is the value pretty even? Are the colors vibrant or more pastel or muddy?
- What designs stand out? Are they more modern? Traditional? How do the colors and color placement play a role in why you like these quilts.
The purpose of this is to help you KNOW what you like and to be AWARE of why you like certain things, and what exactly those things are. As you look at quilts that you love you’ll find what it is about them that you like, and you might be surprised to find that some elements you thought you liked, aren’t what you like at all.
It’s ok to continue to add and remove images from your board as you do this process. The longer you do it, and the more fine tuned your inspiration board is, the greater asset it will be as you continue to find your style and plan quilts now and in the future.
You can use this process for many aspects of quilting and creating, but the focus right now is on color. So if you find that your drawn to all the quilts because of the quilting, start over or keep searching until you have a handful of quilts where it’s the color and design that grabs you.
Have your notes ready...
On Wednesday we'll break out the coloring page, colored pencils, and play with design!
Also feel free to share your Pinterest boards on the thread in the Facebook group! We can discuss and share what we love, and get some help if you’re struggling with this assignment. You can also share your boards and notes in the comments below. 🙂